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I've read through this thread and am soon to tackle my struts which are completely gone. I've decided to go with the Bilsein HD's and found that turnermotorsport is the cheapest I could find. Do you all suggest to change out the strut mounts as well or is that more of a preventative maintenance?

Thank in advance.

Roos

Replace front strut hats, and rear shock mounts (rubber portion). If front sway bar links are orig, replace them as well since they come off the strut anyways.

Nice thing about Bilstein HD is they come with their own dust boots.

Prepare to be swearing for 2hrs taking the rear cargo bay area apart to get to those rear strut mounts.

Also word of caution...I did not change my springs and it's my one regret. With the 17 inch tires the yellow and blue bilsteins stick out on the fronts. I wish I would have done the Eibach springs on all 4 corners.

Good to hear. Very excited to get this done. Going in for my first phase of work tomorrow. (Oil change, valve cover gasket, spark plugs and transmission software update) then on to suspension. Trying to get that done ASAP as I know it's beating up other suspension components.

So... I finally got all 4 corners replaced. Ive put about 100 miles on it since i got her back on 02/26/14, Loving the ride so far. I have noticed that its not as smooth as i was expecting it to be, but i dont mind it. We'll see how it performs after they break in. So far i recomend the Bilstein HD's

I'm new to the forum, but I wanted to thank everyone who posted good info on here. I've ordered Bilstein HDs, Eibach Pro kit springs, sway bar links, and all associated bearings, pads and mounts. I expect to have all the parts and DIY the installation in a week or two. I know I will need spring compressors, but are there any other non standard tools I should buy or rent?

I recently had Bilstein B4s and Turner rear springs installed and couldn't be happier; my front B4s finally arrived this week, so they will go in next week. I'm glad I didn't go with HDs as the B4s are still firm but more controlled ocmpared to the worn factory parts.

I completed my installation yesterday (2008 X3 w/ 98k) and so far I am happy with the setup. Between reading in this forum and watching YouTube videos I was mostly prepared for the whole process. While it is a different body, this video (both parts) is almost identical to my install: . Here are a couple hiccups I ran into:

1. The front struts did not want to release. The pinch bolts were stuck and even after I got them out (liquid wrench + time and impact wrench), the strut would not slide out. I was finally successful with several sprays of liquid wrench, a 5 ft 2x6, a hammer, and then a bigger hammer.
2. Assembling the new front struts was also difficult. The new nut with the Bilstein's was a 7/8 (the OEM struts had a 13/16" nut). I was not able to find a 7/8" spark plug socket. Also the shaft required a 7mm Allen wrench, but the long set I purchased only had 6 & 8. While hunting for these two tools, I purchased a 7/8" oxygen sensor socket. This didn't work either because the outside diameter was too large to fit inside the shock mount. I finally found an allen wrench set including a 7mm wrench at HDepot and used a deep socket 7/8" and a pair of channel locks to turn the socket.
3. Installing the front struts was also difficult. Again the strut did not want to slide into the pinch clamp. I was successful by installing the top three nuts to the upper shock mount and then working the steering knuckle to get it aligned with the strut (easier said than done). At this point the strut was maybe a quarter inch into the clamp. I double checked to make sure the tabs were aligned in the gap and then I slowly jacked up the steering knuckle. After each quarter pump on the jack, I used a pry bar in the clamp gap and the strut slid a little farther in each time.
4. Hockey pucks work great as jack pads and only cost about $2 each.

I just purchased Bilstein HDs and the rest of hardware (spring pads, swaybars, strut hats and shock mounts). Will stick with OEM springs, as do not want to modify the clearence.
Plan on doing the work myself, probably tomorrow. Will take pics for a DIY.

Thanks to Eibach, we've now got a range of springs for the suspension.

The strength of a spring is called the spring rate, which is the force generated per mm of movement.

For a normal road car this might be around 15-20N per mm (i.e. a 2kg weight will compress the spring by one mm). For BLOODHOUND, the springs are different front and rear, at about 150N/mm (front) and 240N/mm (rear).

Fitting electronics
Taking the strain
Call it 10 times the stiffness of your family car. Seems fair enough, since we are planning to go about 10 times as fast.

After 30ki with Bilsteins HD installed with stock springs, the Bilsteins are performing great. I cannot detect any degrade in performance. The shocks still have a firm compression, and dont let the car bounce on rebound. Love it, and amazed they really are quality stuff.

Hi
I would like to change for the Bilstein HD
I'm wondering if i absolutely have to change the shocks/stuts mount at the same time??

I have a 2010 with only 58000km/ 36000 mi
I want to upgrade with the Bilstein to get a sportier ride
the oem shocks and struts are still in great shape.

So if i only have a very low mileage on my car/suspension i want to know if i have to change mounts at the same time?

Tks

It would be advised to do so. The bilsteins will well outlast those pesky rubber components. The rear shocks are a total PITA (rip out entire interior), you dont want to go through that process for a pair of $50 mounts.

I would hold off the suspension replacement until 60k or so when the suspension is really tired.

Everyone is linking the Bilstein HD line, does anyone know US vendors that carry the Bilstein B4/Touring line? They are slightly less harsh then the HD line and closer to factory valve spec. I recently replaced my factory shocks on my E90 with the Touring line from tirerack, and love them.

I know you post this over 2 years ago but how is the Bilstein b4 on your vehicle so far compare, to the original? I have to change my shocks out for my e70 x5 and my option is either OEM, b4 Bilstein or Bilstein HD. I have over 109000 miles on the vehicle and I'm not a fan of harsh rides and hoping that I can get the ride as smooth as it was when I first bought her.. I really don't want to pay OEM if but if I don't have too, but I will if I have to get the ride again

I know you post this over 2 years ago but how is the Bilstein b4 on your vehicle so far compare, to the original? I have to change my shocks out for my e70 x5 and my option is either OEM, b4 Bilstein or Bilstein HD. I have over 109000 miles on the vehicle and I'm not a fan of harsh rides and hoping that I can get the ride as smooth as it was when I first bought her.. I really don't want to pay OEM if but if I don't have too, but I will if I have to get the ride again

I put the Bilstein HD on my X3, have about 40k mi on the suspension now. They took about 2months to "loosen" up. The quality of the shocks are excellent. Rebound control is still tip top, no bouncing feel. They will easily get another 40k mi without a need for new shocks. I would say they are a "tad" stiffer.

I put the Bilstein B4 (touring model) on my 330i E90. I have about 30k miles on those and they still feel great, but they also took a few months to loosen up.

B4 = twin tube, HD = monotube. The B4 cost like HALF the HD for the same car (at least from tirerack if they carry your model). If you dont plan on keeping your car more then another 50k miles, go with the B4 (touring) models as their "feel" will be as close as it gets to new factory feel. Make sure you get new bushings/rubber/strut mounts when you do the swap. The HD line comes with their own bump stops/dust boots built in. Its really is quite amazing how "cheap" relatively speaking the B4 line is.